LITERATURE + LECTURES

Houston Arts Alliance presents Sacred Sounds: Communing with the Divine in Islam. A lecture by Dr. Ali Asani, (pictured) Harvard University.

Muslims across the world have used sounds and poetic words as means to transcend the material and access the spiritual. The result is a rich soundscape in which genres from spoken word to melodic and rhythmic chants have become an essential part of Muslim devotional life. This presentation will explore this rich devotional soundscape that lies at the heart of the Islamic tradition by exploring the Quran, the Divine Word for Muslims, as an aural/oral and performative text.

Dr. Ali Asani has a doctorate degree in Indo-Muslim culture from Harvard and continues to teach Indo-Muslim and Islamic Religion and Cultures there. As part of his work to combat ignorance about Muslims and Islamic culture, Dr. Asani held workshops and presentations, after 9/11, to help Americans understand the role of Islam in Muslim society. He is the author of several books including, ‘Ecstasy and Enlightenment: The Ismaili Literature of South Asia’.

This lecture is a part of Sacred Songs, Sacred Sites, a program of HAA's Folklife and Traditional Arts Program. For the complete listing of Sacred Songs, Sacred Sites events please visit Houstonartsalliance.com.